Getting into the heart of the slums.

We had our second ride in a tuc tuc today, driving through the slums to the primary school. Outside the school we felt a little nervous and uneasy. This soon changed when we got inside the school, to enter we walked between 2 galvanised buildings into a small courtyard with 6 classrooms around the outside.  We had a your around the classroom and as we entered they stood up and clapped before singing us a welcome song.  Singing and music features very strongly and the music is very happy, it fills them with hope.

We joined in five minutes of a lesson of class 5. They have recently been donated wood, which has enabled them to buy desk so they sit very proudly at their assigned place.  We sat on  the chairs and a girl opened the lid and  took pride  in her desk when we commented how tidy she keeps her station.  We walked into class six where we were introduced to class 6 , we asked them what their aspirations were and they talk of being lawyers, accountants and doctors.  Theyhave recently taken exams and the teacher shared their results, the top child in class 6 scored 80%. This result has only been achieved through the education the child has achieved through nursery and primary. At the moment the school stops at class  6 so the hope is class 7 will be introduced  before January as otherwise these children have nowhere to learn.

We got to feed the children their lunch, the school and nursery provide them 1 meal a day. This was introduced very early on as teacher found that children has no energy and attention as they had not eaten for days.  By having a cooked meal each day their concentration has improved tenfold , which  is proved in the results of their exams.

The nursery is preparing  for their graduation tomorrow. This is a high event, children have been singing and dancing to prepare. This afternoon we helped them iron their graduation gowns and sort through  ten big bags of rice.  We have to look through each grain to get out all the dirt, as you can imagine the Kenyan women were much  better than us as we took about ten minutes to look through one bag.  They have to do this because clean rice is just too expensive.

The day ended with more singing, we sung English nursery rhymes and we were  very surprised how many they knew, row row your boat, head shoulders knees and toes and if your happy and you know it.  They children all gravitated toward us as singing is their big interest.

Alice and James, the administrator and school manager. James is the school manager and his responsibility is maintainence and upkeep as well as working on the front line to rehabilitate children.  We met with them to discuss what we can do with all the donations we have received. The school is in need of sewing machines, last year there's got stolen. The charity now has to fund a security guard to watch the school. We would like to buy them more, this would create people with new skills, ways of making money as well as finding something for children and staff to do in the holidays.  A small gesture can make such a difference so watch this space.

some photos of us in thr primary slum school

We have arrived.....

We have arrived safely and even got an extra tour round Nairobi airport!! We had 10 suitcases between the 5 of us, so a lot of luggage , mostly containing donations made by the wonderful Yellow Dot Parents! Charlotte and I are extremely tired after having no sleep for 24 hours, so we know we will sleep well tonight!
We had a lovely afternoon at the nursery, the children are getting ready for their graduation on Friday, so there was lots if dancing, singing, making decorations and playing the African drums! The children enjoyed joining in with new rings game we taught them and loved having their photo taken!!
We meet the whole nursery team who do a fantastic job encouraging children in the slums to have an education! We have shared out some of the pens and pencils for  their graduation day!
Charlotte and I got to ride a tuc tuc today....... Well it's very eventful!
More photos to post, to show what a difference we can make.......
Thank you for taking your time to read out blog.
Asante
Maryanne and Charlotte

feeling very overwhelmed by the generosity of our Yellow Dot parents

Charlotte and I went to Paul and  Shirley's house to sort out our suitcase situation! A massive thank you to all our Yellow Dot Parents who have taken part in giving a little something for the children in Kenya, we were so overwhelmed by the generosity of all of you and cannot thank you enough, this is going to make a huge difference to the children and community of Kisumu!
Paul, Shirley, Jude, Charlotte and I counted up all the bits that you kindly donated, there is still more coming in, so I am sure this is not the final calculation.......here it goes so far......
Toothbrushes 165
Toothpaste 72
Paracetamol 52 boxes
Bicycle repair kits 18
Plasters 31 boxes
1 bandage
Vaseline 22 pots
Soap 11
Notepads 50
Sharpeners  22
6 large bags of pens and pencils
Pens and pencils on boxes 62
Coloured crayons 36 boxes
3 Maths sets
2 first aid boxes
4 Antiseptic cream
1 box of nurofen

We have also raised over £1000 so far for chickens,goats and school uniforms.......WOW, we are so grateful and cannot wait to share this good news with the families in Kisumu.

Charlotte and I leave on Tuesday and arrive in Kisumu on Wednesday, we are busy packing and getting very excited about our adventure.
Thank you for taking your time to read our blog.

Asante (thank you)
Maryanne

one week to go.....

Our First Post!!

Welcome to our blog! We hope that we can keep this updated during our visit so you can follow us on our adventure.

Maryanne and I have been around all the nurseries to do a circle time in Kindergarten. We did some African dancing, sang an African nursery rhyme and shared some pictures of the nursery out in Kenya. We left them with a task of making resources and games for us to take out to the children!

All the Kindergarten children have been busy colouring in goats and chickens,  the hope is that Yellow Dot families and the Yellow Dot team will put money towards purchasing these animals. Maryanne and I can take the money out with us to Kenya and buy goats and chickens from  the markets, we can then give these to many families in need. The cost of a chicken is £3.50 and a goat is £15. 

We are also looking for toiletries to take out with us; toothpaste, paracetamol, toothbrushes, soap. Stationery will be helpful too; crayons, pens, notepads. We are very grateful for everything we recieve.

Only 8 days before we leave!! We have both been vacinnated for all kinds of things, we have our malaria tablets, it is just the insect repellant and the sun cream to go!!

At the end of the week we hope to see what lovely things have been made by all the Kindergartens for the children out in Kenya and to see how many chickens and goats we have managed to sell. We will keep you posted.

Thanks

Charlotte